For those who like to think outside the square, Sony New Zealand today announced the release of its SDMP234 (the "P234") Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), which is Sony’s first widescreen computer monitor in New Zealand.

Designed to benefit those who work with widescreen material, especially in graphic arts, film and video production, the 23” P234 provides generous screen-space for multi-page layouts. The widescreen aspect ratio and fast response time will also be appreciated by entertainment enthusiasts who are serious about video-editing, gaming and DVD playback.

The P234 features a 1920 x 1200 high resolution LCD display with a 500:1 contrast ratio, and can display true High Definition resolution . The monitor also includes both digital and analog inputs allowing users easy connection to different computers and workstations, taking up less precious desktop space.

In the past LCD technology has been criticised for its slow response time (with 25-40 milliseconds standard), which generated a blurring effect on fast moving images. The P234 introduces a fast response time of 16ms to overcome this problem and appeal to serious action gaming fans and video editors.

The P234 will be available from August 2004, with suggested price of NZ$4999.